Art & the Cosmic Connection is an interdisciplinary program developed by scientists, artists & educators to encourage learners to explore the mysterious worlds in our solar system and their geologic stories.

The planets, moons and small bodies of our solar system are places of wonder and intrigue. NASA spacecraft are visiting these fascinating places, capturing images of otherworldly features that just beg to be explored!

What do these captivating images tell us? In just a short time, with the tools provided in this program, learners of all ages can begin to understand and interpret the features on distant objects in our solar system.

Slide the gray bar to scroll through the images, and click on each image square for more details.

The Activity

Art & the Cosmic Connection is designed to engage students in space science education by becoming artist explorers. Using the elements of art – line, color, texture, shape, and value – students learn to analyze the mysterious surfaces of our rocky celestial neighbors - planets, moons, comets and asteroids – as well as our beautiful Earth.

Fusing art and science education inspires students to explore both disciplines. Students create art inspired by planetary images, and their understanding of planet surfaces deepens when observing them through an artist’s lens.

The program includes:

 Educator Guide that is standards aligned and explains how to teach the activity

 Presentation Notes is the PowerPoint Presentation in pdf format for printing and using as you go through the slides

 Space and Earth Images for printing for the pastel art activity where students draw their own interpretation of an image

(NOTE: These are large files and take time to download – please be patient!)

The program is scalable for grades K through college and is adaptable for formal and informal education programs. Art & the Cosmic Connection can enhance Earth science curriculum or have a specific focus such as Mars(see below) or moons. Feel free to modify the PowerPoint presentation to meet your needs.

The Mars Edition focuses on the Red Planet. The PowerPoint Presentation includes all the concepts in the original and some of the same images to illustrate them, but most are fascinating and beautiful images Mars.

The Videos - Cosmic Art in Action

The developers of the Art & The Cosmic Connection activity, Monica & Tyler Aiello, recognize that both artists and scientists are keen observers of the natural world and engage in creative problem solving. The three videos below introduce students to the process of using the elements of art to understand and analyze beautiful NASA images from space.

Monica, a planetary artist and educator, and Tyler, a sculptor with an architecture background, dedicate considerable time to educational programming, working with students of all ages in schools, museums, afterschool programs and camps.

Student Art Gallery

Art & the Cosmic Connection inspires people of all ages to make beautiful art while learning more about the solar system. Nearly 100 students at the Denver School of the Arts participated in a NASA workshop in early 2013 that introduced them to Art & the Cosmic Connection. The drawings on the INTERACTIVE POSTER were created by some of these students.

Students – Share Your Cosmic Art!

We invite you to send us your drawing of one of these intriguing rocky solar system objects. Tell us which NASA image inspired you – is it a planet, moon, asteroid or comet? Describe which interesting features you focused on and why you chose the colors you used. Take a photo of your drawing or scan it and send it to us.